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07-06-2004, 12:38 PM
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#51 | ||
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I will say that given the ability to pick up pretty decent players after the draft - that probably is one area I'll address via house rules in the future. Maybe I should only be able to sign them to one year deals... or maybe there ought to be a limit on how many I can sign in a given season.
Either way - under my current rules, I'm doiing better with URFAs than with late-round draft picks -- so why not trade out of rounds 4-7 of every draft, use that leverage to get the top picks I really want, and then just fill in with URFAs rather than late rounders? |
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07-06-2004, 02:25 PM
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#52 | |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Sep 2003
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Quote:
It's funny that you say that because I have heard comments to this effect from several unnamed scouts in the last few drafts. Several teams have actually chosen not to sign late round picks and apply that cap space elsewhere. Looking at the numbers as of 2001: Code:
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07-06-2004, 08:02 PM
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#53 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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dixieflatline - are you still talking about FOF? I assume so, but it's not clear from your thread what league you're describing. Is this a multi-player FOF league? Or are those numbers from the NFL?
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07-06-2004, 08:54 PM
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#54 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2017
Defending two-time champions, five of the last seven – are we going to start seeing some of our players hang up the cleats, just to wrap things up on a high note? Not this year – we don’t lose anyone at all. We lock up Head Coach Harry Prior to a new deal, which will probably end his career. He’s likely to end up with one of the best coaching records I have ever seen – right now he stands at 171-73-3, which is pretty solid. He came to us when we were still building, and ended up suffering for two years before we got good. But since then, we have been sterling, of course. So, we actually have some cap space this year – a new thing. Even after tagging Copeland again, we still have $10 million in cap space – wow. We do have several free agents to try to get back – but overall, this is the softest offseason we have faced in a very long time. And so, we take a stroll through the roster. DT Courntey Malan seems to be breaking down – after being a model of consistency for years, he played in 10 games in 2015, and only 7 last year. I renegotiate him down for a new deal – hoping we can get something out of him, at least. (This worked great for S Orland Bullock, who completely rebounded from injury to play very well since) We start the FA process with bids in for WR Tito Taylor, RB Max Wynn, and DTs Scott Hannon and Brent Fredrickson. Hannon is basically out of gas, but provides veteran leadership – and we’ve always been better with him than with Fredrickson, who has been a good super-sub at DT. LB Albert Kasica is the toughest of our group – he might be difficult to re-sign, as he is asking for $4m a year, too much for a decent starter at the weak side spot. LB Bobby Beethoven is seeking a similar deal – and I expect to re-sign him, only we’ll try to time it well, to get good value. After the first week, Kasica has gotten an offer – so I put one in, too. But in week two, it’s Beethoven who gets an offer – and we are in jeopardy of being split over these two. It takes until week 9, but we get both guys locked up – both get pretty good bonuses, but we should be solid at LB for the future now, with these two flanking our new rising star at MLB, Cole Westbrook. So, we have most of our FA mission accomplished, as we head into the draft. We’d like to add a quality DL, but picking at the bottom of round one will limit our options. I will again feel free to move up a bit if it secures a top pick we’d be happy with, especially at DL. There are 6 defensive ends in this draft who I judge to be worth a top pick – that’s pretty deep. I count three defensive tackles – that’s nine guys. If they are almost all gone, I will trade up, but otherwise we just plan to take whoever remains. Well, six of the first ten picks are at DL – so we are suddenly looking at just the last three guys. Byu pick #17, I feel I cannot wait any longer – we have to get one of these guys, or else we’ll be sitting at the end of the round with nobody we like at all. Code:
Summers slides to defensive end, where I see him as a starter probably next year (anticipating Kim Northern’s departure). Sammy Halpin might turn into a run stopper in the middle, and was too promising there (unlimited run defense, I think) to pass up. Connell is a gifted receiver, and will have to make the team as a wideout. Among the URFAs – I love WR Chad Horner and CB Courtney Tobias, and think both might be long term contributors. We’ll see what we have with the rest of the lot. After training camp, we see that Summers will probably turn out okay, but our other two draftees will probably fall short of hopes. WR Chad Horner will stick, and G Mack Willis looks pretty good, too. I was apparently wrong about CB Tobias – but the quicker Derek Harper has some promise. I’m carrying 60 players into the preseason – it’s been a while since we have been that deep at this point. We pare down, with a few players hitting the IR, and get to our target of 53 players for the regular season. We’ll try to keep up a good winning streak now. On the roster, a few notes. RB Lamar Wright now has a firm grip on the starting job, and looks to take much more of a “full time” role there – maybe not 1,000 yards, but I expect him to see more total time than Noccolino did. At WR, Sherman Pritchett has won back his starting job at split end ahead of Frank Dotson, who will still see time, but as our #4 option. Meanwhile, Tito Taylor has taken the top flanker spot from Derrick Barrere, who will line up in the slot now. At LDE, it looks like Kim Northern will star, but will yield to rookie Emmitt Summers for passing situations. The time split should serve both well, and might cool Northern’s contract demands for next year. Also, in a big surprise, LB Bobby Beethoven has yielded the starting SLB job to Burt Veen – I don’t know what to make of this yet, Veen has been slow to develop but has finally gotten there. Our winning streak ends in week two, as Tampa comes from behind to snag us 17-13. And they knock Mel Copeland out for a few weeks – which will cause us some real angst. We split two games with Gabe Glenn at the helm, then welcome back Mel Copeland with open arms – with an alarming 2-2 record. Copeland rights the ship leading us to two easy wins, and we are feeling our rhythm again. We get to the halfway point at 6-2, not quite clicking on all cylinders really, but looking pretty good. Buffalo, though, is 7-1 and a bid threat. We run off a a few more wins, but stumble in Baltimore, losing 7-3. Two weeks later, at Buffalo, we lose our last shot at getting the division title, as Buffalo beats us 31-28. It’s tough to be upset with a 12-4 season, but after the run we’ve had, it feels like we have dropped back to the pack, which is disappointing. Code:
Copeland’s injury started it, but even after he was all better, we were never the top-tier offense we strive for. Sure, we end up with impressive stats - #2 in yards per carry and #11 in yards per attempt, but our passing stats are usually a level better than this. We’re slipping. Lamar Wright’s big plans got derailed by a midseason injury, and he ended up with fewer than 200 carries, as usual. We welcome back Courtney Malan to our regular lineup – he managed 14 starts this year, a nice rebound from his two tough injury-marred years before. Westbrook is growing right into the MLB role, and it’s tough to argue with Burt Veen’s effort at the sam spot this year. And young Barry Sims is taking over the top job at CB for us – as we rotated Diehl and a fading Bruce Winslett across from him. Orlando Bullock put up another all-star season, I think. Wild card? What is this shit? Postseason Miami 28, Pittsburgh 13 – The Copeland/Mueller plotline is fun, but this is a team effort, as we take advantage of our opportunitites to get the win. Sherman Pritchett snags two TD catches in the effort. …for the next game, we are 12-4 playing at 14-2 Buffalo – and it’s a pick ‘em game… Buffalo 28, Miami 10 – The Bills complete the three-game sweep of us this season, and go on to the conference championship. Ben Copeland got knocked out early (after only one pass) and they dominated us from that point on. Tough way to lose – but that was the story of the season. As good as we are, without Mel Copeland we are a very beatable team right now. Buffalo goes on to win the Superbowl over Washington, 31-27. Good season for them, obviously, led by a journeyman QB they picked up off the FA scrap heap for a one year minimum salary deal. Fascinnating. Mel Copeland’s streak of multi-award seasons is also over now. He still manages to grab first team QB, but that’s all he gets this time. Our punter Jeremy Shaw and kicker Adam Tolliver are both named to the all-pro first team. S Orlando Bullock is left off the list this year, despite some great stats. Tough to see whether this is the beginning of the end, of just a hiccup year. Is Copeland going to be plagued by injuries now? Or can we get things back together for another mighty run at a title? |
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07-07-2004, 02:58 AM
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#55 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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NOW it gets interesting... Gota wonder how much of this revolved around Copeland...
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07-07-2004, 03:04 AM
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#56 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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0-3 vs Buffalo and Buffalo winning a SuperBowl. WoW, that's unrealistic. It seems your team relies more on QB Copeland that what you write in your end of season report. We'll see that next year.
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07-07-2004, 09:30 AM
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#57 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2018
We have two retirements from the team – probably the start of a flood over the next few seasons. Safety Barry Flowers was never a star for us, but was a solid fill-in for his full 14 year career. WR Darrick Barrere is our career leader in all receiving categories, having started 99 of his 207 games and posting 9,516 yards receiving for our pass-heavy offense. Candidly, Barrere probably gained this longetivity in part by being not quite good enough to demand a budget-busting contract like his contemporary Leland Fielder, who also retired this season from San Diego with 10,118 total receiving yards. Our staff is intact, so we move right to the FA process. We have $2 million in usable cap space after tagging Copeland again, so this will be tight, but not impossible. A round of renegotiations get us up to $8.6 million in usable cap space, and then we release G Donovan McBeal, whose $4.5 million salary is a great relief as well. That relief is needed – as we have a strong set of free agents. Atop the list of free agents are S Orlando Bullock and DE Ken Cutris. I have an offer in to Bullock, and expect to wrap him up – but Curtis is going to be tougher. RT Trent Jackson has been a little shaky against the pass rush, but without him we take a real drop to our next option, journeyman backup Ike Hickman. After the first week, I’m surprised to see T Trent Jackson immediately sign with Denver – so we will lose him. S Orlando Bullock quickly has accepted our offer, so we lock him up. And DE Ken Curtis is listening to my offer, and also has a sheet in from Denver. Curtis accepts our offer, though, so we land two of the “big three” who were up for grabs, which is okay. WR Frank Dotson has declined a bit, and is really just another guy out there for us now. I decide to put in a new contract offer, it’s cheap and he does still have some big play ability. But we are now really without a premiere target for Copeland at any position. Our last target is C Deon Flint. He’s looking for $5m a year – big bucks. He’s good, and I’d like very much to keep him, but it’s tough. Fortunately, he doesn’t get an offer during the first 20 weeks, so we will hope he might drop down in the post-draft period. In the draft, we sit at #28 with our full complement of original picks. The OL is a need area – we need one more playable tackle, and remain weak inside at guard. If we cannot re-sign C Flint, it gets all the more pressing. I think that WR is another place to look, and perhaps at safety. We may be in a “BPA” situation, though… but offensive line is going to be my first look. I am shocked to see a true standout RB still on the board after 8 picks are taken. I wasn’t looking for a RB, but Bruce Pietrzyk is a sure thing, seems to me. He has blazing speed, and is completely ready to go. So, I explore a trade with Atlanta, seeking to move up to #9 to grab this standout player. The deal is our #1, #3, #4 and #6 to get Atlanta’s #1 – but we move up and grab, by my reckoning, the very best player on the entire board. We are a passing team – but Pietrzyk might mark a change in that attitude… he could be enough to change our whole perspective. Code:
When our late second rounder comes up, I find nothing worth taking – not a single OL who looks worth a hoot. So, I trade down with Carolina, and move up slightly in next year’s draft. (Yes, I know) At the top of round four, I still get the TE I was eyeing in late round two. Oddly enough, our signing of super-rookie RB Pietrzyk is good news for veteran Pat Noccolino. Noccolino was in real jeopardy of losing out and not making the roster this season. But by signing Pietrzyk, we suddenly had a lot more interest in re-signing the wily veteran RB Noccolino, who has potential to serve as a mentor to the youngster and help along his development. We bring 58 into training camp. The result? Bingo. Bruce Pietrzyk will get a little better in the passing game, but he is already a monster carrying the ball. He should change everything for us – and be the first serious weapon for us on the ground. Our other two draftees are a little shaky, but we don’t have a big investment in either one DE Polasek end up getting cut before the season starts. Heading into the regular season, we have a real problem. WR Sherman Pritchett has gone down with an injury, and will miss nearly the whole season. So – what to do at WR? We’re desperately thing there now. I decide that with the changes at RB this season, we have the ability to make a position switch, and we move versatile RB Max Wynn over to play some flanker. I don’t think he will be a star, but he was likely to be our #4 or #5 RB anyway – so this will give him a chance to contribute, where we will need him. So, we head into the season – looking for a bounce back to the top tier of title competitors. In the opener, we get a nice 31-14 win at Buffalo –a good sign. But in week 2, Mel Copeland is hurt again, and we get rolled by Chicago. Copeland misses two weeks – and we are just not the same team without him, it’s clear. We lose again under Gabe Glenn, but Copeland returns the following week and we’re back on track with a big win. In week 5, we get our first 100-yard rushing game – but it’s not from Pietrzyk. It’s from Lamar Wright, filling in for the fallen starter. Pietrzyk, it seems, has blown out his knee – he’s done for the year, and his long term future is now in some grave doubt. Big blow for us, of course. We are in massive injury trouble – the worst we have ever seen. This could be a second in real trouble, now. A few good weeks get us feeling better, and we reach the halfway point at 6-2. Copeland has 22 TDs to only 1 interception, and a passer rating of 126.1 – unreal. But in week 10, Copeland is down again – and will now miss several weeks. Gabe Glenn, the much-maligned backup, trots out and holds our playoff position largely in his hands. We manage to drop only one more game down the stretch, and get to 13-3, hopefully to welcome back a healthy Mel Copeland for the playoffs. Code:
This was still an excellent team, going 13-3, the best record in the NFL. It’s a notch or two below our past dominance, but still solid. Mel Copeland was unbelievably effective even without much of a supporting cast, and Gabe Glenn managed to keep things afloat without him (though those 17 picks hurt). WR Brant Barker ended up being our best target – an out-of-nowhere free agent reserve, who just became very solid while everyone around him got hurt. The line played okay, even though we had injuries there and had to put lousy rookie Marty Wagner on the right side, after we lost our starter to free agency. Defensively, we are delighted to have Courtney Malan back and playing well, despite his arthritis that keeps him less than his best. Cole Westbrook had a star season in the middle of our linebacker corps. And we have seen CB Mickey Sims finish his development into a superior player at the cover position. All in all - #2 in ypc, #5 in ypa, adds up to a very strong effort. Mel Copeland is back to 100% and ready for the postseason. We are probably the favorites to win it all. Postseason Miami 59, Indianapolis 3 – Wow. Mel Copeland is 22 of 26 with 5 TD passes as we dismantle the Colts in our opener. It’s a great effort, as we get our early and whip them badly. Miami 27, Denver 26 – Our offseason rivals give us a challenge here, but we get the final score and take the lead. Miami 35, Atlanta 6 – Mel Copeland is again the MVP, as we beat Atlanta for the fourth time in the Superbowl. Lamar Wright has a solid game in the short passing game, and we pound out yet another title. Copeland’s Superbowl MVP is obviously his only award – this first time he has not been the first team QB in eight seasons. P Jeremy Shaw retains his title as the first team all pro. DT Courtney Malan has an improbable return rewarded with a first team award, while MLB Cole Westbrook is named to the second team. LT Eddie Wickes is the league’s strongest man this year. Great season – we had Copeland when we needed him, and managed to get through the spots where we were without him. He’s clearly vital to the team – but we have enough around him to play well without him. But it’s clear that this isn’t going to be a title team without Copeland anytime soon. |
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07-07-2004, 10:03 AM
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#58 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: here
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Atlanta appears to be Copeland's personal bitch.
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07-07-2004, 10:44 AM
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#59 | |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Sep 2003
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Quote:
Real world. Just pointing out that other people share your idea that low round picks are almost worthless. |
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07-07-2004, 12:10 PM
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#60 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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This team so obviously revolves around Copeland. Without him, you would just be nowhere close to the standards you have set. This career's key intrigue to me at this point is to see what happens when Copeland retires.
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07-07-2004, 02:57 PM
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#61 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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QB is key in the FOF series => the usual conclusion again with Jim's games.
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07-07-2004, 05:13 PM
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#62 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
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In his last 700 pass attempts over the past two seasons, Copeland's thrown 3 INTs. He is Quiksand's Dean Houston, minus the off-field baggage. What's his career QB rating?
I'll be interested to see his career stats when he finally retires. |
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07-07-2004, 06:51 PM
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#63 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Just for the sake of clarity - here are Mel Copeland's career stats thus far:
Drafted 1(18) in 2008 draft He was actually the second player we selected in that draft - we took S Orlando Bullock with pick 1(10), whi has also worked out well Here's what we saw at the time: Code:
He stepped right in and started in 2008, supplanting the Offensive Rookie of the Year in Neal Dugger. I felt right away that Copeland was going to be the real thing. In eleven seasons, he has started 166 games (missing ten, all but one in the last two seasons). He was shaky in his first season, but has been very good since, and eventually brilliant. 3,724 / 5,792 passes completed = 64.2% 44,245 passing yards = 7.63 yards per attempt 346 TDs to only 92 interceptions 754 rushing attempts, for 4,870 yards = 6.4 yards per carry He is the Dolphins' career rushing leader, incidentally Career passer rating = 100.7 Best year ratings were 115.1, 112.3, and 108.3 |
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07-07-2004, 07:02 PM
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#64 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Grief.. the passing numbers are impressive enough.. but about 400 yards a year rushing too.... grief!
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07-08-2004, 03:28 AM
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#65 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Didn't you want to start a dynasty where you could make the QB your best runner ? Guess you have it with Copeland !
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07-08-2004, 03:40 AM
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#66 |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Out of curiosity, what became of Darnell Farlow, the top QB prospect in Copeland's draft? Kinda funny that Copeland's worst ratings are all in categories I look at first.
Well, y'know, funny in that sense that I feel even more completely clueless.  |
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07-08-2004, 07:29 AM
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#67 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Fairfax, VA
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I hope you continue this career at least until Copeland retires. I'm curious to see where his numbers end up all-time.
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07-08-2004, 12:26 PM
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#68 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2019
We have one retirement from the team this year: DT Scott Hannon was our very first player, a great DT for a long time, 10 year starter, 2-time all pro. He goes out as a “Legend of the Game” after 14 years with the same club. Our front office staff remains in place – after winning all these titles, could we fire anyone anyway? After tagging Mel Copeland again, we still have $5 million in usable cap space – nice. We do have a lot of work to do (only 40 players signed, lower than usual) but it’s good to start with a little cash to spread around. Our biggest issue is that our defensive line is in free agent flux. DT Courtney Malan, DE Kim Northern, and DT Brett Fredrickson were all starters last year, and all are looking for new contracts. I’d like to return all three – but especially Malan, who has proven to be great when healthy. Malan is looking for $10m to play for two more years – he’s already in his 14th season. This hurts. RB Lamar Wright and QB Gabe Blenn are also up for new contracts – both are challenges. Wright is the suppose backup to would-be star RB Bruce Pitrzyk, but Pietrzyk is still nursing his ACL and is listed out for 8 weeks. What will we see when he returns? It might not be a star running back any more, that much is certainly possible. Gabe Glenn hasn’t been great, but do we want a totally untested backup to Copeland, who is showing some tendency toward injury now? Another tough call. After a round of renegotiations, we bring our cap figure up to about $9.5m in usable space – not too bad. And I decide to start off the FA process with offers in only to RB Lamar Wright and DT Brett Fredrickson, who are both being pretty reasonable with their demands. Kim Northern signs immediately with the Giants – getting over $5m a year. DT Courtney Malan is listening to a fat offer from Tennessee- which I feel I must outbid. In week 4, Malan accepts our terms – but it costs us $4.5m this season. Loyalty is a tough thing – but this is in part based on outstanding on-field results. By week 8, we lock up both Wright and Fredrickson to affordable deals. In week 11, G Quentin Fuller unexpectedly signs with Tennessee – my mistake for not getting an offer in, I thought he would go unnoticed. That almost certainly makes the interior line, at the G spot in particular, the most pressing need on the team. Bad mistake. And it all but forces my hand to make a FA offer to G Russ Lofton – we probably needed to keep him anyway, but I had hoped to wait him out and work his price down. Now, he’s the only start-worthy guy on our potential roster – we cannot afford to let him slip away also. In week 14, my third strong QB Ernest Dunn is getting pursued. Not a fat deal, but more than I’d want to pay. I had thought Dunn might be a reasonable backup plan for losing Gabe Glenn – now it looks like I’ll have to work things out with Glenn, period. Paying $1.5m for Dunn makes no sense at all. Not the ideal outcome – but at least we re-signed Malan. We still have real issues to resolve at QB, G, and perhaps DT and safety. We’ll need immediate help from the draft, and we still could enter the season with a serious gap somewhere. In the draft, we are targeting a guard, but he gets snapped up right ahead of us by Atlanta. SO, I’m looking at second-best options, and I’m not thrilled with our choices. I really wanted an OL we could start right away – but I don’t see any such guy at any position. I have an OLB I like as a possible convert to DE – but that’s about as good as it gets from this crop. So, we make a modest deal with Cleveland – we move down a few spots here, and get a fourth rounder in trade for two later picks. I have an idea what to do with this draft now. I’m pleased when, with the first of our back-to-back early second rounders, we have the two guys I wanted both available. Not our top need positions, admittedly, but guys who ought to help out right away. Code:
I’m happy with Hansen, who looks pretty decent, and Wayne, who makes a good transition to DE for us. RG Ahn was the best left at his position, and might well start right away. The key to everything was getting Rasmic, a standout speedster who I think has great potential – I wanted to position us right there to get him in early round four. With QB Huffman, another guy I was targeting but surprised to get this late, we might have a solid backup in training – he has speed and agility, we’ll see if he can actually throw the ball. Among the URFA group, the most intriguing prospect is definitely FB Rick Beyer. I‘m not wild about the FB position, but this guy could be special. I’d love to see G Edgar Tisdale break out, too – that 99 volatility is calling my name. In the late FA period, in addition to grabbing our undrafted rookies, we also work out deals with S Drew Griffith and WR Brant Barker. We sit with $1.2 million in cap space, looking to re-up with QB Gabe Glenn to fill our final hole. We get Glenn in the final stage, and have 58 players on board going into training camp. We are ready for training camp… Emmitt Rasmic is going to break out, I just know it… Can I get a din-ding-ding for Emmitt Rasmic? He ought to get better and better in time, but he’s going to develop if he gets some playing time. Without much evident ability in picking off passes, he might be limited, but he’ll get pretty good, I think. FB Rick Beyer and G Edgar Tisdale both show some promise, too. Oddly enough, we get a trade offer for QB Gabe Glenn – Dallas is wiling to give their 1st round pick next year for him. I won’t take the deal anyway (my rules prohibit it) but it would be quite a dilemma – that probably would be a pretty high pick, and I’m not too keen on Glenn besides. But with Copeland seeming so brittle, that would be very, very risky for this season. We will head into this season with a huge question mark looming over our offense – what will become of Bruce Pietrzyk? If he can get back full steam, we might have a great new weapon in the arsenal. If his injuries take a big permanent toll, he might be a role player at best. What’s the reality? We’ll find out in a couple of months, in the fairly early season, it seems. As the season starts, Pietrzyk is upgraded to probable, and he looks just fine. But I’m not certain when the long-term damage would be revealed, perhaps it’s not until he is all the way back 100%. After two wins, we suffer another big injury loss – LT Eddie Wickes will miss two months with a hammy. He’s easily our best lineman, and now we will be reshuffling the whole line to accommodate the loss. Ouch. After a 3-0 start, Bruce Pietrzyk is declared 100%ready to go, and we have a look at him. He seems good as new – a great sign. We will send him out right away, and see what he can do for our admittedly lagging running game. After a 5-0 start, we are finally toppled by Cleveland, but we manage to get to the halfway point at a solid 7-1. Copeland is not putting up gaudy gross numbers, but his 13 TD to zero interceptions has his passer rating sky-high as usual. We keep winning down the stretch, despite even more injuries, and eventually get to the final week with only one loss. Mel Copeland is dinged up and cannot go, but Gabe Glenn leads us to a win over wild card-bound Buffalo, and we finish up at a very solid 15-1. Code:
So, the offense remained very effective – even behind a truly dreadful and embarrassing patchwork offensive line. C Deon Flint played well, but T Marty Wagner and G Melvin Ahn just shouldn’t be on the field. Regardless, Copeland was his old self – a 103.5 passer rating on the year, and only three picks all season. He might not get first team QB this year – Bill Gaines from the Giants has a 104 rating. Bruce Pietrzyk just seems like he needs a little hand-holding – he’s okay, but not the explosive monster that our scouts say he should be. Perhaps with a blocker or two? WR Harris Hanson worked through injuries to take over the starting split end job, and seems to have a bright future ahead. Tito Taylor was target #1, but Copeland spread it around as usual. The defense slipped a few notches, but remained better than average in most everything, and gave up the second-fewest points in the league. Injuries were key – we had Courtney Malan only for a few games, and young Sammy Halpin is just not a replacement at all. LB Cole Westbrook might have posted yet another all-pro year, doing the dirty work inside and in the pass rush as well. Summers and Curtis led the pass rush from the bookends, but we didn’t get a much pressure as usual, no surprise. CB Mickey Sims had another great season leading the secondary, and Orlando Bullock stayed healthy and put together another great campaign. Copeland and Pietrzyk are both upgraded to probable, and both will go for our playoff opener. We’ll have Courtney Malan back in there, too – perhaps we are in good shape for another good postseason run here. Postseason Miami 26, NY Jets 14 – We seal this with a nice long drive in the fourth quarter, topped by a Pietrzyk TD carry. Copeland is only 19 of 41, but we get he job done on defense, led by LB Burt Veen with 13 tackles. Miami 31, Cleveland 16 – We avenge our only loss of the year, as Copeland is back on track with 348 yards and 3 TD passes. Pietrzyk has 121 combined yards – and is getting more into the flow of the passing game. Miami 27, Green Bay 13 – Bruce Pietrzyk runs for 89 and 2 TD, but the MVP goes, once again, to Mel Copeland – whose 325 yards passing kept us in control the whole day. Solid, dominant win. The season awards are announced – and Mel Copeland once again has the four-way sweep. I’ve lost count of his many times he has done it. Turns out this is his fifth four-award season (2010, 2012, 2015, 2016, and 2019). Really, about the only thing he has yet to do is top 5,000 yards passing – and the way we’re heading, that doesn’t seem too likely. But he’ the king of passing TDs already, and is closing in on the career yardage leaders, despite giving them a five-year head start. Another tidbit – Copeland holds the single-season league records for yards, TDs, completions, and passer rating – but he accomplished each of them in different seasons. This is no one-trick pony, gang. MLB Cole Westbrook rakes in his first Defensive Player of the Year award – pretty solid to rack up those tackles, considering he was on one of the best defenses in the league. He’s also the first team MLB, of course. Those are the only awards we manage this year – but another standout season all told. Mel Copeland is on a mission – and he heads a pretty elite group of players on board: Code:
This is a list of our current players who can sport a total of seven championship rings. Of course, not all are what they once were – but seven rings ought to ensure a pretty serious aqua-and-orange contingent heading to Canton when it’s all said and done. Copeland is a no-brainer, but I think Malan, Winslett, and probably Bullock would merit consideration, too. |
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07-08-2004, 03:36 PM
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#69 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Pritchett also had a nice period.
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07-08-2004, 03:49 PM
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#70 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Pritchett is a strange case. I drafted him in the third round in 2009, and he immediately showed some signs of tailing off -- usually, this tells me that the player doesn't have much real upside and I cool on using him too much. So, while he was usually on the active roster, he didn't realy make much of a splash for this first four seasons - returning some punts, but only starting in two games that whole time, and only getting about 350 yards over four seasons.
Then, in 2013, we had a series of shifts in our personnel (I think it was Leonard Drake's injury, Derrick Barrere being switched to flanker by my staff, and nominal starting SE Frank Dotson getting hurt for the whole season) which catapulted Pritchett into a starting role. And he really delivered - out of nowhere, a 1,447-yard season with 10 TDs! The following season, I benched Dotson just to keep Pritchett in as the starter, and he posted another 1,000-yard effort. However, in 2015, Dotson won the job back, and Pritchett went back to a punt returner/reserve receiver, for the most part. Pritchett ended up with 25 starts over the next four years, but never topped 1,000 yards again. Pritchett isn't a strong HOF candidate, despit that one great season: only 5,364 receiving yards and 33 TDs. Our better candidates from the roster would have to be Derrick Barrere (13 seasons, 9,516 yards, 67TD) who spent his whole career with us, or a guy like Leland Fielder (13 seasons, 10,118 yards, 62 TD) who finished his career elsewhere. The best guy we ever had, of course, was Leonard Drake (10 seasons, 7,103 yards, 39 TD), but a serious injury after his seventh season cut his career too short. Drake was coming off a 1285-yard season in 2010 as Copeland's favorite target when he suffered the blown knee that eventually rendered him useless. |
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07-08-2004, 04:03 PM
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#71 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Cool question, I didn't forget. (Okay, I did, but it came back to me) Farlow went on to be very proficient, and is still in the league. He was drafted by Seattle and started for them for 11 seasons, until leaving as a free agent after the 2018 season. He signed in 2019 with Philadephia, where he was their full-time starter last year. And he is signed to a nice long term deal for the next four years there with a heavy bonus - so he's probably going to retire an Eagle. Darnell Farlow 164 starts, 36,487 yards passing, 206 TD, 121 Int, 88.4 QB rating Career record: 83-83-2 Nothing to really complain about. But I wonder how differently things might have gone if we had taken Farlow at pick #10 (rather than seeing him selected right ahead of us at #9) and used the later pick on S Bullock instead? Just swap the two quarterbacks... where would we be right now? Last edited by QuikSand : 07-08-2004 at 04:04 PM. |
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07-08-2004, 04:25 PM
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#72 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Mar 2004
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You would be just an average team...Mel Copeland is proboblyone of the best I have ever seen
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07-09-2004, 10:16 AM
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#73 | |
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Strategy Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: North Carolina
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Copeland would very seriously be in the "best FOF player ever" debate. I imagine he could crush all known passing records if his career is long enough (16+ years).
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07-09-2004, 10:17 AM
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#74 | |
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Strategy Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: North Carolina
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dola, I've always thought it might be interesting to do this exact sort of career, but limit your drafting to one unit of the team (and kickers). So you'd either be fielding an all-UDFA defense or offense (probably the more challenging of the two).
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07-09-2004, 11:27 PM
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#75 | ||
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Strategy Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: North Carolina
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I just had the same thing happen to me for the first time. I drafted an LDE, immediately moved him to RDE, and the computer moved him back to LDE during training camp. Weird and unnecessary.
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07-10-2004, 12:58 AM
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#76 | |
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n00b
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Vienna, Austria
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Sadly that's the modus operandi for FoF. If you allow your coach to set the depth charts and don't turn that option off before training camp, it switches players left and right. While mostly just annoying (and partly nice in case of lightweight defensive linemen...) it's just bad if it changes a RT to LT who proceeds to loose several points of ability (present and future). probably not just imo this shouldn't be linked to the depth charts setting option but rather to the "sign players to roster"-option. Last edited by T-Storm : 07-10-2004 at 12:59 AM. |
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07-10-2004, 09:09 PM
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#77 | |
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Strategy Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: North Carolina
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T-Storm, I agree 100%. That really shouldn't be considered a depth chart function, as it can severely impair some players.
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07-11-2004, 10:02 AM
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#78 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I agree with this, generally, and have been watching the situation. The AI makes changes right after/during training camp, it seems - based on your current depth chart balance. If you have three left tackles and no rigt tackles, it's prtty likely to switch your second-best left tackle to right tackle -- and yes, this seems to be connected to the "depth chart" setting, rather than the "sign players" setting (I agree that I'd rather this wasn't the case). However, the good thing is that these AI-initiated position switches are, in every single case that I have seen, painless switches. You don't see guys taking the hits in current and potential ratings like you would if you were making the same switches manually. So, that at least eliminates the much bigger downside in my mind. Plus, the few times I have tried it, when I have noticed a switch like this that I didn't want to go ahead with, I have been able to immediately undo the switch, and this is also a penalty-free switch. So, that new RT that I'd rather keep listed as a LT -- I can switch him reight back manually and he wil retain all the exact same ratings. I'm pretty sure this is true acros the board -- but feel free to experiment. Indeed, this might be something of a "backdoor" to making position switches that you might want, but are afraid to do because you don't want the player to suffer a ratings loss - there are possibilities here. |
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07-11-2004, 12:56 PM
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#79 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I need to take back/amend this comment -- I just ran a training camp, and had a star-caliber CB get switched from RCB to LCB (for no good reason) and he did indeed suffer some current skill loss in the move. He did gain it back (almost completely) when manually switched back... but that does counter my previous observation. FWIW... |
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07-11-2004, 02:19 PM
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#80 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2020
We again escape the retirement list – good news yet again. In the next few years, though, I have to think we are going to start taking some hits. We have six players with more than 12 years in the league. We have two staff retirements – head coach Harry Prior and OC Kendall England. Prior leaves with a record of 218-82-3, with 7 championships – pretty impressive stuff, even if I did all the thinking for him. Our new coach is 17-year veteran Mel Clancy, who has a career record of 135-148-2 and has one title with the Redskins, way back in 2005. Our new OC is Darrell Cooley, and he should be excellent. With Copeland tagged for over $9, we have 35 players signed (lower than usual) and about $4.6m in usable cap space. After a work-through of the rosters, I have $12.6 million – and an opportunity to work out a new deal with C Deon Flint that would clear up even more (but lock him to use with a big new bonus, too). So – we have at least some room to move. Target FA to re-sign, in order or importance: WR Tito Taylor, LT Eddie Wickes, CB Mickey Sims, LB Burt Veen, T Ike Hickman, WR Sherman Pritchett, S Wesley Baskey, RB Pat Noccolino, TE Roderick Giles, P Jeremy Shaw, LB Mack Baniewicz, LB Aaron Tucker, RFA RB Bo Brwester, FB Sammy Briseno. Lots of targets – limited cash, as usual. LT Eddie Wickes is going to be impossible, unless he gets no pursuers elsewhere. He wants a $22m signing bonus, and to be paid $16m a year. No possible way. So, I’m all but writing him off as gone. In fact, all my top players are looking for fat deals – this is going to be tougher than I had expected. I start the FA process, and re-sign CB Mickey Sims, who should remain affordable for two, maybe three seasons. LB Burt Veen gets exactly the deal he requested – he wouldn’t accept anything different, even if it had more money up front – weird. LT Eddie Wickes has a $107 million contract on the table, but it disappears as the Rams use up their cap space elsewhere. Wow, he balked at $107 million. In the late weeks, I re-sign TE Roderick Giles (who we have to get back into the starting lineup) , but we still have a lot of unsettled guys to sort through – but that will wait until after the draft. Since I fully expect to lose T Eddie Wickes to free agency, I figure landing a startable tackle is probably our top priority in this draft. We got Ike Hickman (also out there as a FA, but I expect to get him back) as a URFA – but I don’t want to depend on that working again. We spend our first two picks on linemen, trying to get some depth there – and I’m hoping that McCloskey will work out and slide over to play guard for us, where I could use a talent infusion. Code:
The late draft picks both seemed pretty intriguing to me, but both lost some luster as soon as we got them into camp – not a great first sign. I’m not crazy about any of these URFA pickups, and am mostly looking for special teamers here. I’d like to see a surprise, but I don’t have anyone in mind, really. In the post-draft FA market, I am shocked at how far LT Eddie Wickes’s demands have dropped – he suddenly is looking for a deal of only like $3m a year. Unbelievable! I had all but given up on him – now I’m looking g for a way to lock him up for as long as possible. We work out new deals with WR Sherman Pritchett, RB Pat Noccolino, S Wesley Baskey, and finally LT Eddie Wickes in week 7 of 8. So, our main targets through free agency are locked up, with one exception – WR Tito Taylor. I have to go ahead and extend our deal with C Deon Flint, but that makes up the room we need to sign not only Taylor, but also T Ike Hickman and P Jeremy Shaw. So – that wraps up everything we need – having LT Eddie Wickes aboard for a new four year deal is a great surprise – how did he miss his $100 payday with the Rams? Training camp is our spot to see the trend line for our young players. This year, we get some lousy news – looks like my second round pick is a bust, and I don’t see any breakouts on the whole list, at all. DE Gerald Stokes looks like a nice value pick, but he shouldn’t become more than a usable cheap reserve. Nothing to be too excited about here, including the top pick – who will probably become a decent RT, but not an anchor player by any means. Yawn. We head into the season trying, for the third time, to successfully complete the “three-peat” ® of league titles. With all the subplots on the team, perhaps the most intriguing remains – when, if ever, are we going to see star production from RB Bruce Pietrzyk? My scouts still say he’s an unbelievable talent – but so far, he’s posted zero hundred yard games… even in this offense I’d think he’d come up with bigger numbers. I’m wondering if my initial fanciful thoughts of moving him to play WR might have been right on—at least he’d be getting the ball out there. Alas. LT Eddie Wickes is showing why, perhaps, his contract demands dropped. He is hurt again – this time with a broken arm, his second of the season. If he cannot remain healthy, he’s not the bargain I thought we got. Similarly, DT Courtney Malan goes down again – another 14-week injury, and we’re scrambling again at DT. That’s a serious need area for down the road. However, despite the injury whining, we beat Buffalo in a week four battle of unbeatens – crushing them 41-3 to take command of the division and extend to 4-0 on the year. In week six, we lose a home game to Denver, while Mel Copeland is healthy – a rarity. We play pretty well, but we are absolutely ravaged by injury – I have a waiver wire pickup out there playing at CB, since we were down to only four guys at CB/S who were not listed as “out” (that’s 5 out of 9 guys unable to even suit up). We end up a solid 12-4, but in our tough division that puts us into the wild card – not a great setup for a wounded team that really needed that week off to rest up. Code:
There are signs all over the place that this was probably our worst season in this era. Start with Mel Copeland – perfectly nice numbers for most QB, but for him this year is a disaster – only a 91.3 passer rating. I guess we can’t complain about Pietrzyk – his 5.66 yard per carry is great, but it would be nice to see him command more than 55% of the RB carries on the team. WR Harris Hansen is developing into our top target, and topped 1,000 yards – it’s been a while since we had a wideout do so. Roderick Giles, back in as our starter, was very productive again, too. The defense, without our best CB, SS, DT and DE, played fairly well, I guess. We remained tough against the pass (despite the patchwork secondary group we put out there) but softened against the run. DT Sammy Halpin did his best – he’s a one-trick pony run stuffer inside, and did a decent job, it seems. But he and Sullivan just aren’t top-shelf types… we really need a bigger impact player in the middle up front. We’ll try to get Courtney Malan back for the playoffs, but his injury situation is tenuous as usual. CB Emmitt Rasmic played fairly well after being pushed into starting – 16 passes defensed is a pretty good number, for only 36 catches allowed. But our team just didn’t get many picks this year – without our two best players in the secondary, it’s no real shock. We will wait a week on CB Mickey Sims, hoping too get him up to probable. But LT Eddie Wickes and DT Courtney Malan have to come back and play hurt if we’re going to go anywhere in the playoffs. Postseason Miami 31, San Diego 17 – Bruce Pietrzyk has 159 total yards, and we put together a very nice effort, not making mistakes, and keeping them at bay all afternoon. Good road win to move on. Miami 21, Buffalo 17 – Another great win, with Pietrzyk again rushing in the sealing TD. Copeland throws for 279 yards and 2 TDs in a great game – a narrow win over the division winners. Houston 32, Miami 23 – Weird game, as we outgain the Texans slightly, and have only one turnover – but they were better on third downs and in the red zone, and came away with a fairly easy win. Harris Hansen has 146 receiving yards in the effort – but our season is done one level short of the big game. Houston, after a 9-7 season, manages to win it all with a 31-23 win over Detroit in the Supebowl. QB Mel Copeland manages to get the first team QB honor, despite a “down” year. P Jeremy Shaw is also a first teamer again. But that’s it for us – so many of our stars were hurt, we didn’t get a full complement of stats from most of the main contenders for awards. Tough year… might this be the beginning of the end for this team? |
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07-11-2004, 10:49 PM
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#81 | |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Colorado
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Gee, you think there might be some parallels between your Dolphins and our Chitterlings and Outlaws? |
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07-12-2004, 03:04 AM
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#82 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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I think that the way in which the coaches manage the depth charts has a lot to do with Pietrzyk. I have RARELY seen them mark skill players, particularly RBs, as 7-9 in starting percentage... You just don't see a RB take that brunt of the carries when they manage the depth charts, which is unfortunate because Pietrzyk should definately be up there.
You also have to look at his 63 receptions as very solid and 15 total TDs.
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Text Sports Network - Bringing you statistical information for several FOF MP leagues in one convenient site Quote:
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07-12-2004, 08:08 AM
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#83 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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True - I'm not furious with his usage, just a tad frustrated. I deliberately let my starting FB go via free agency this past offseason, planning to keep a younger (lesser) FB in that role, so that Pietrzyk would take over the RB duties in passing situations. (I hate having a stodgy fullback in there getting carries and catches) He did get the full assignment, and a playing time level of 6 by my scouts - which isn't too bad. But I'm still frustrated when I see a box score and see that my RB #2 got 9 carries in the game, while my supposed star RB got only 13. If we're going to have 22 handoffs, then I'd much rather see a split mroe like 18 to 4 or thereabouts. But I fear that the only way to get there (without taking over depth charting myself) is to put up two stiffs in the reserve RB roles - and I have to think that's a high price to pay - my current reserves are pretty decent. I honestly am starting to think I should just switch him to play WR -- my sout said he's switch over at about 80%, and if he developed in a year or two to that level, he'd be my best wide receiver. It's a shame, really. |
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07-12-2004, 08:11 AM
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#84 | ||
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Strategy Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: North Carolina
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My new favorite trick is the computer changing everyone to a 4-3 defense during training camp (although I play a 3-4). If I'm going to let the computer handle the depth chart, I guess I should try to remember to briefly turn that off before I run training camp.
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07-12-2004, 03:37 PM
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#85 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2021
Entering into another year, we’re wondering – did we tail off last year due to a big rush of injuries? (They were the worst we have seen, and that was after getting a new head coach with a better AI rating) Or, is it just that the team is declining overall? This year should help us find out. However, we are still counting on a number of players who seem to be injury-prone: DT Courtney Malan and LT Eddie Wickes topping the list. Last year we went 12-4 and were a wild card, made it to the conference championship where we were even in the point spread despite playing on the road. I think that made us a “title contender” even though it was a disappointing year. We’ll see if our next step is forward or backward. This is the first “big year” for retirements – we have four: S Wesley Baskey was a 2nd rounder from our first draft, and started 201 games for us – solid veteran, but never really a superstar player and a team leader DT Brett Fredrickson was a longtime solid backup, with 83 starts in 144 games, retiring with 41.5 sacks CB Bruce Winslett was a superstar corner for us, but got hurt badly in his fifth season, and then played out for several more years as a capable starter, but never quite the electrifying player he once was WR Frank Dotson played as our playmaker split end for a few years, getting 4,255 yards and 30TD in his nine-year career, but declined badly in his last two seasons This year, Mel Copeland’s salary will only be about $6 million – so that’s a little extra cap room we didn’t expect. We start the FA period with 40 players signed and about $2m short on usable cap space. We go through renegs, and get space up to about $6 million – not that bad, and this year’s class of free agents isn’t quite as pressing as last year’s. Our target free agents, in order of importance, are: MLB Cole Westbrook, S Derek Harper, DT Sammy Halpin, S Drew Griffith, WR Brant Barker, and DE Alfred Castine. I probably can’t re-sign everyone with $6 million – but we’ll do what we can. I start off the process with offers in to Westbrook, Barker, and Harper. In five weeks, we have all four guys locked up, and also DT Halpin, whom we had to lure away from an Atlanta offer sheet. That leaves S Drew Griffith as my biggest problem – and he’s slated to start, since Orlando Bullock is still hurt from last year. But we will go into the draft with that potential gap – and see what we can come up with. Code:
In the draft, I grab a potentially interesting DE with our top pick – Mike Fulton might end up being a pretty effective run stopper on the end for us. I had hoped he might move inside to play DT, but no luck there. WR Broenkow is fast and looks like he might push for immediate playing time – we moved up a bit to get him as he was a guy I actually considered with our top pick. LB Jamison and S Crute both fill needs, and look like they could be long term assets. Among the URFA group, I’m crossing my fingers for CB Cory Bailey in particular – I’d love to pick up one more usable cornerback, as we are in some trouble there. Following the draft, in preparation for late free agency, I release QB Gabe Glenn. Greg Huffman is ready for the #2 job, and the move saves us over $1.3m in cap space – probably enough to re-sign S Drew Griffith. If we lose Copeland, we’re likely shot anyway – who really cares whether we go 9-7 or 5-10? Well, in camp we saw great things from URFA cornerback Cory Bailey, and he will certainly make the team. DE Fulton, our top pick, looks a bit disappointing, though. WR Archie Broenkow made an impression – we’ll have to figure out how to say his name, it seems. RT Alvin Hegamin might be needed this year if LT Eddie Wickes has injury troubles again. We head into the preseason with few situations to resolve – every starting job is pretty well locked up. We’ll be watching to see who makes the team in the last few roster spots, and we’ll keep an eye out for injuries. A preseason injury to DT Harvey Sullivan, a projected starter, leaves us desperately thin there. We have Courtney Malan, a brittle old man, and Sammy Halpin – and after that, a disappointing 7th round rookie in Ike Johnson. This is easily our weakest position. Our only DE who could move over is Emmitt Summers, and doing that to him while he is already fully developed at DE seems like a terrible waste – I won’t do it now, but I might consider it later if we lose Malan to injury. In theory, we could get by with Pat Wayne at DE better than Ike Johnson at DT. Despite an already-frustrating list of injuries, we batter Buffalo in our opener, 30-10, to get a good start on the season. But after two weeks, it’s staggering – our DL is already wiped out. DT Sullivan, DE Curtis, DT Malan, and DE Fulton – all four are now gone for the season. Oh, dear. So, for week three – here’s our starting foursome up front: DE Summers (67/67), DE Stokes (34/37), URFA DT Garrison (11/28) and DT Ike Johnson (13/33). Unbelievable – what good can we possibly accomplish with this kind of garbage on hand? Short answer – keep winning. We keep racking up injuries, including another season-ender for LT Eddie Wickes (as I predicted, alas) but we keep going. Next we lose DT Sammy Halpin (again) and MLB Cole Westbrook – this is preposterous. But the wins keep on coming. Orlando Bullock gets healthy from his injury from last year – but he’s a shadow of his former self, promptly gets re-injured, and is probably done for his career now. Yet, we trash the 8-1 Jets to get to 10-0 and stay in command in the division. This is a weird-as-hell season. Through 10 games, WR Harris Hansen has topped 1,000 yards already – and in en route to a monster year, even while comrades are falling all around him. We finally stumble, against Kansas City. We have a few more injuries – at this point, it’s just growing comical: Code:
Through 13 games, we are 12-1, and there is one goal somewhat in sight. Mel Copeland has never posted 5,000 yards in a single season – in fact, nobody in the league has. He has 3,991 yards through 13 games – meaning if he can go off with about 335 yard per game for the final three, he could top that magical barrier. Might be nice. Two solid wins, but not flashy outings from Copeland, all but end that dream – and he ends up with a very good, but not record-breaking total of 4,867. Code:
Mel Copeland – again with the big numbers. His pinpoint precision seems to be waning a bit (30 picks these last two seasons, while he threw only six in the three seasons before that) but he still ends up with some gaudy numbers, and a 93.8 passer rating. WR Harris Hansen is the real deal – and has put together a great season, starting opposite the rookie Broenkow. Bruce Pietrzyk – another solid year, hampered by injury, but still a decent year (though his yards per carry were way down). But look at the passing rankings -- #1 in attempts, completions, and yards, and even #2 in yards per attempt. On defense, I’m shocked – how can this team be #2 in yards per carry allowed? Inconceivable! And #1 in yards allowed per attempt? Why do I ever bother with good players on the defensive line? They all disappeared in a puff of early season smoke for us, and we still were completely dominant. Great seasons from Cole Westbrook (when he could play – only 11 games) and Burt Veen (14 games) who held things together as bet they could. A special note goes out to our special teamers extraordinaire – TE Rodeirck Giles got demoted to reserve duty, but managed to post 20 tackles! That’s zero defensive snaps, and 20 tackles – this guy was a great gunner for us. And RB Pat Noccolino, who had his sixth career return TD, and even carried in two TDs, as he settles into his role as returner, special teamer, and mentor for us. (Noccolino remains one of my favorite players on this team, for odd reasons) Into the playoffs – our injury list now includes DE Summers (done) and WR Hansen (done). We re-activate LT Eddie Wickes and DT Courtney Malan, in the faint hopes that they can give us something in the postseason. But our hopes are dim in each case. We’ll just try to get by with what we have – like we have done all season long. Postseason Miami 34, New York Jets 21 – If it takes 381 yards to win, Mel Copeland will throw for 381 yards. Simple, really. Resurgent Tito Taylor, back in a starting role, pockets 7 for 126. Miami 30, Cleveland 20 – Bruce Pietrzyk carries for a career-high 97 yards (yawn) but we play pretty much error-free football, and come away with a good win – and a ticket to the big one, again. Mel Copeland – looking for a ridiculous 8th Superbowl MVP award. An 8th title? That’s just crazy talk… The preview says we have the edge on Detroit at QB, RB, LB, and … DL!!! What kind of guys do they field on the defensive line? We are favored by 5 to take it home. Miami 24, Detroit 10 – Copeland only throws one TD, and Pietrzyk has 121 total yards and all three scores – but the jury finds Mel Copeland to again be the game MVP. The legend grows and grows, one more chapter. I can’t believe we won it all, with another knockout season at 18-1. After taking so many early injuries, I thought for certain that this was the year we’d implode completely, go 8-8, and mark the end of the dynasty for all intents and purposes. But rolling to another dominating win? Didn’t se it coming at all. Wow. |
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07-12-2004, 03:48 PM
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#86 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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MEL COPELAND PLAYER CARD
Hometown: Springville, Utah College: Clemson Drafted: 2008 Round 1, #18 overall by Miami Statistics 14 seasons, 213 games played (all starts) 4,879 / 7,611 = 64.1% completions 58,002 passing yards = 7.62 ypa 440 touchdowns, 125 interceptions 885 carries for 5,483 yards = 6.1 ypc Career passer rating = 99.6 Awards 2021 Solecismic MVP 2021 Superbowl MVP 2021 Offensive Player of the Year 2021 All-league First Team QB 2020 All-league First Team QB 2019 Solecismic MVP 2019 Superbowl MVP 2019 Offensive Player of the Year 2019 All-league First Team QB 2018 Superbowl MVP 2017 All-league First Team QB 2016 Solecismic MVP 2016 Superbowl MVP 2016 Offensive Player of the Year 2016 All-league First Team QB 2015 Solecismic MVP 2015 Superbowl MVP 2015 Offensive Player of the Year 2015 All-league First Team QB 2014 Solecismic MVP 2014 Offensive Player of the Year 2014 All-league First Team QB 2013 Solecismic MVP 2013 Superbowl MVP 2013 All-league First Team QB 2012 Solecismic MVP 2012 Superbowl MVP 2012 Offensive Player of the Year 2012 All-league First Team QB 2011 Solecismic MVP 2011 Offensive Player of the Year 2011 All-league First Team QB 2010 Solecismic MVP 2010 Superbowl MVP 2010 Offensive Player of the Year 2010 All-league First Team QB |
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07-12-2004, 03:50 PM
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#87 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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Pietrzyk 121 yards in the SuperBowl is his best performance ever : good timing guy !
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07-12-2004, 03:52 PM
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#88 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: St. Paul, MN
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That might be the most ridiculous season I've seen in FOF. All those injuries and still only one loss on the year.
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07-12-2004, 03:53 PM
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#89 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Probably the most unbelievable thing about Copeland is that he grew up in Utah and went to Clemson.
Where's the bug thread? |
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07-12-2004, 04:46 PM
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#90 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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I continue to be baffled as to why I like this dynasty so much...
But I do... I think it is two things.. #1 It is short and to the point, but with enough detail to have a picture of what is going on #2 the nature of the rules keep familiar names around year after year, even if they do not perform exceptionally well. So, you get to know players and see them progress..
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07-12-2004, 04:49 PM
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#91 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Rennes, France
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another thing to note is that QS is not coaching the team at all, he is playing it in "GM" mode.
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07-13-2004, 12:07 PM
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#92 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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I think the way to make this a tougher challenge would be to institute a rule that the only players you can ever re-sign are those you drafted. Use URFA players as roster fillers, but not as long-term solutions (like I have frequently here).
That would not only cut down on the number of "breakout" players, but it woudl also make me less interested in dumping my middle/late round draft picks to move up in the draft so much. When I know I can get URFA players, there's rather little value in selecting a 6th or 7th rounder. Last edited by QuikSand : 07-13-2004 at 12:09 PM. |
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07-13-2004, 02:30 PM
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#93 | ||
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Strategy Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: North Carolina
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Quote:
but it's his gameplan so he really is coaching the team, he's just not flexible.
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07-13-2004, 03:29 PM
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#94 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
I think that's a fair way to put it. |
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07-13-2004, 03:29 PM
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#95 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2022
I’m at the point where I am watching the retirement list each year with apprehension. I don’t want to lose Mel Copeland, not yet. This year, though, I fully expect to see several of our standout veterans on the list – guys like S Orlando Bullock (Copeland’s draft-mate) and DT Courtney Malan, both guys who have suffered serious injuries in the last years of their careers. And so… we do indeed have two retirements, both fairly easy to anticipate. DT Courtney Malan was the centerpiece for a fearsome defensive front through our best years, earning two pro bowl berths and retiring with 736 tackles and 97 sacks in 196 games, as our latest “legend of the game.” WR Sherman Pritchett was a journeyman turned juggernaut when he exploded for 1,447 yards in 2013, earning a pro bowl visit with a team record that still stands. He retires with 5,586 yards and 34 TD. I decide to keep the current staff. Head Coach Mel Clancy has an “excellent” rating in avoiding injuries – and there isn’t anyone rated that highly available. We have been crushed by injuries lately, but I’m writing it up as a function of old players rather than bad coaching – for now. One more season like that, though, and we might re-evaluate. (Clancy is a monster, though – ratings are G, EX, EX, EX, EX) We have no cap space immediately available, but I work through a few minor reneges to get us up to $1.5m – a paltry allowance. Our top FA targets are DE Emmitt Summers, LB Bobby Beethoven, CB Zach Morrison, and TE Roderick Giles. RB Pat Noccolino, a sentimental favorite, is also looking for a new deal. So, we need some more space. A new deal with LB Burt Veen (locking him to us forever with even more bonus money) frees up a couple million, and a new deal wit G Ross Lofton (depleted after his latest injury) also helps. So, we ought to be able to make a play for most of these guys to return. The only offer I have on the table at the outset of free agency is to Beethoven, and it’s a modest sum. It’s decision time right away with DE Emmitt Summers – he’s being pursued by Dallas for $68m over 6 years. I certainly cannot afford $11 million a year – but will try to come up with something. I put in an offer that costs us $3m this year and next – we’ll see if he prefers to stick around. It would be awful to lose one of our few reliable defensive ends at this point – starting 10 games last year made him basically our stalwart. CB Zach Morrison signs with Detroit, our Superbowl opponents last season – that’s frustrating, because we could have kept him had I just put in a bid there, but I was too worried about Summers. But then we do get Summers, in week four – a big relief. Bobby Beethoven takes our offer in week six, and the early stages are behind us. We have our full complement of draft picks in slot #32, and a bit of cap space – I wouldn’t mind moving up to grab an impact player, especially a much-needed defensive tackle. DT Seth Cleveland is the target guy – he’s rated 8th on the ordered list by adjusted grade – so it will probably take a big move to get there. But he ends up going at #2 overall – far earlier than I was willing to trade up, so that’s a moot point. When it’s pick #8, I see one major standout player left in the draft – and decide it’s time to fill our #2 need area, at CB. CB Stephen Banks is an absolute can’t miss prospect – a sure thing, in my book. I didn’t expect to see him fall in the draft like this, but now that he’s slid this far, I have to move up and get him. It takes a lot to make the move – but we’re getting a player we really covet and need. Code:
Stephen banks is a “league’s fastest man” type of burner, who has all the skills we could ask for. He should immediately team up with Mickey Sims to make a titanic secondary combo – we’re very, very excited there. Sure thing. We then make a move up to the front of round four, to select back-to-back defensive tackles, just hoping that we end up with somebody useful here. I’m even enthused about our last pick – Money might turn out to be a pretty promising player for us, too. In post-draft rookies, I’m obviously thirsting for fill-in caliber players on the DL. I expect to keep probably four rookies there (just to have enough bodies, in case we have injuries again) so I’m looking closely at these guys. Our toughest final contract decision is with CB Emmitt Rasmic – he has been a pretty good starter for us, and is looking for about $2.5m a year to stick around. That’s a little steep, especially considering we just plunged in with a guy we want to start ahead of him in lightning fast rookie Stephen Banks. So, I decide to let Rasmic go – it hurts our depth, but saves us some money in the swap. Losing Zach Morrison looks even worse now, as we remain pretty thin in the CB spot, we will be depending on our young players a lot. Training camp reveals a few things. First – CB Stephan Banks is a hit. Even our “irrelevant” pick in CB Arnie Money looks good – he might work out well also. OL Leroy Blackwell looks to have a very promising future – I just need to decide where to slot him. At DT, it looks like Ljunghammar is the most promising of the lot – and we may keep Vaughn on hand as well – but I don’t think we have a major breakout player in the lot. We are ready for the season – our only serious preseason injury is to MLB Cole Westbrook, who should be okay in a few weeks. So, we head onward for our title defense – here’s the roster, incidentally: Code:
So, we are ready for the season, once again. Mel Copeland’s trick knee is acting up again a bit, but he works off the rust in week five with 387 yards and 5 TDs as we thrash Buffalo 51-20 to get to 5-0 and assume command of the division. Halfway through the season, we remain unbeaten, but lose LB Cole Westbrook for the year. Big blow- we really don’t have a suitable backup to him – I move SLB Jerome Maxwell over to start, but he loses a lot of experience in the switch, unfortunately. We also have to pickup a free agent TE to fill in for starter Roderick Giles, also gone for the year. We respond by pounding 8-2 Baltimore and holding them to 42 yards rushing, with Maxwell leading the defense in tackles. We win a Superbowl rematch in Detroit to get to 13-0 on the year, behind an impressive 167 yards rushing from Pietrzyk (71) and Brewster (56). And we round out the season with another impressive dismantling of Buffalo, getting a 38-0 shutout to complete our march through the regular season once again. This year, a few serious injuries hurt – but the DL stayed pretty well intact. Admittedly, I placed injury-prone guys like S Orlando Bullock and DT Harvey Sullivan onto the IR early – but still, things were better. And we kept LT Eddie Wickes and both DE starters on the field all year – that’s good news. Code:
Once again, we were a statistically dominating team. My shorthand for dominance is looking at the four yards per play rankings – and this year, they were: 1, 2, 5, and 11. Not too bad. Mel Copeland had another banner year, presumably benefiting from some young talent infusion at WR. Pietrzyk had his best and most consistent year, topping 1,400 total yards with 16 TDs. It might be time to make an investment at TE – I like Roderick Giles, but he is getting fragile. He’ll be cheap to keep around, but he’s probably backup material at this point. I guess starting a rookie at CB softened the secondary a bit – Banks did have 7 interceptions and will have a case for DROY – but he only broke up 7 passes, and we expect more from our corners. Regardless, our defensive front held up petty well – and DE Emmitt Summers posted a monster season with a 10.1 PR Pct – a huge figure. Regrettably, both he and Ken Curtis got hurt late in the year, and will miss the playoffs (of course). Jerome Maxwell filled in nicely at MLB, starting 8 games, but we need to look for a long term answer there, methinks. Unsung heroes: LT Eddie Wickes rebounded from three injury-riddled seasons to post a great year (32 KRBs on a passing team). RB Pat Noccolino was one of the league leaders in kick returns, adding one more TD to his career total – now seven. P Jeremy Shaw posted a solid 41.6 yard average on the season. C Deon Flint was a standout leading the OL, with a 37/5% KRB rate, and only 3 sacks allowed in over 600 pass plays. Postseason Miami 33, Houston 9 – We play it cool, get a solid win, and avoid making mistakes or losing anyone new to injury. So we move on, and should be in shape for the conference title game. Miami 52, Kansas City 34 – Wow, a real shootout. We lead 21-20 at the half, but Pat Noccolino returns the second half kickoff for a TD, we later get an interception TD from Micky Sims, and it’s a blowout. Copeland is solid with 20 of 29 passing for 337 and 4 TD, no picks. Great game for our offense and special teams. Miami 36, Arizona 24 – This wasn’t a real blowout. We’re leading 30-24 with a minute to go, and Arizona is driving - when rookie CB Stephen Banks takes an interception 85 yards for a TD to seal the deal for us. He knows what to do, though, and passes the MVP trophy right to Copeland, who had an error-free but unremarkable game, but reels in his ninth Superbowl MVP trophy regardless. Mel Copeland is awarded his perfunctory foursome of awards again, adding to his lengthy laurels list. WR Harris Hansen makes the first team for the second straight year. CB Mickey Sims makes his first pro bowl, as a first teamer also. DE Emmitt Summers makes it as a second teamer, also his first recognition. Yawn – another Superbowl, another 19-0 season. This is getting a little mundane, of course. Very good year all around, we stayed relatively healthy most of the way, and got things clicking pretty well. Hard to say if this team is as dominant as our best (I don’t think so) but a 19-0 record doesn’t look too bad, really. |
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07-13-2004, 03:32 PM
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#96 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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One more stat to add to Copeland’s resume, which I keep omitting:
Career record, including postseason: 231-38-0 And that includes his first two shaky seasons at 16-19, combined Last edited by QuikSand : 07-13-2004 at 03:33 PM. |
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07-14-2004, 04:29 AM
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#97 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: May 2001
Location: williamsburg, va
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Sounds like you're finally losing your interest? I would still love to see how you interest is a season or two afer Copeland is gone...
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07-14-2004, 07:39 AM
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#98 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Didn't mean to emphasize the "yawn" all that much... but this is exactly the kind of career that really doesn't interest me when playing the game. Yes, I'm making decisions at this point, but I just find so many opportuntities to renegotiate down contracts all over the place that it just seems ridiculous. I'm always able to re-sign my own players to backloaded deals, and then pull the plug on the fat years before they come - it's absurd, really. I had to actually cut some good players for a few years, but that seems to be over - now I can keep practically everyone.
It's okay -- I'm committed to seeing this through the end of Copelnd's career, at least, just because it's intriguing to see how many titles this team will eventually win. I have never played an "all out" career for anywhere near this long, so this is by far the most successful team I have ever governed -- so that's interesting to me, at least. I can't help but wonder, though -- if you can have this kind of success without even using the FA market and without ever touching your depth chart ... how badly does this game need some sort of additional built-in challenge? Yes, I'm already a believer in house rules - but wouldn't it be nice to play the game on a harder setting and just see most things get incrementally tougher - making the challenge a bit more realistic? |
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07-14-2004, 11:08 AM
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#99 |
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n00b
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Powhatan, VA USA
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House rules
I've been a silent follower all along, as I'm doing a similar challenge. There is only one house rule I use, outside of what you're doing: I limit myself to franchising a player once during his career.
It's been great watching Copeland dominate, but it makes me wonder how many titles your team would have won without him (I would dare say you would have still won a couple). This has been very enjoyable reading, though. |
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07-14-2004, 02:46 PM
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#100 | |
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Pro Rookie
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Quote:
Last edited by daedalus : 07-14-2004 at 02:49 PM. |
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